Lives at risk in Ireland due to lack of junior doctors

The Health Service Executive of Ireland was forced to pay over $1.25 million to the only 10 junior doctors in the mid-west region of Ireland.

The figures also showed that one of the junior doctors had worked so much overtime that they earned $251,800. Four times the salary of a registrar.

Numbers of junior doctors have now gotten so low that patient’s lives are being put at risk. Last week one of the country’s largest emergency departments was almost prompted to close.

"They are the powers- that-be and between them they have created an extraordinarily difficult situation in the health service,” Dr Chris Luke, a consultant in emergency medicine at Cork University Hospital and the city’s Mercy University Hospital, told the Irish Examiner.
"Last Wednesday, we came close to closing the emergency department at the Mercy. Things have reached breaking point there and we are not far from the same situation at the CUH.

"I don’t want to frighten people and I recognize that is a problem that is not confined to Ireland... Nevertheless, under-staffing is hazardous for patients and doctors and it is something we must address here as a matter of urgency."

"Remarkably, the powers- that-be in Ireland’s health service contrived to make matters unimaginably worse and now their laissez-faire strategy has reportedly resulted in many dozens of non-consultant hospital doctor posts remaining empty, particularly at the frontline. This situation is unparalleled in terms of hazard to patients."

Chairman of the non-consultant hospital doctor committee of the Irish Medical Organization (IMO), Dr Matthew Sadlier, said that they young doctors were being paid ridiculous salaries as they were being asked to work a ridiculous amounts of overtime.

The Fine Gael and Labour parties have described the situation as a poor use of resources.